Unmasking Black Eye
by Lissie78
Summary: Steve is back from the dead after some of his enemies kidnap Stephanie. How will Kayla and the rest of Salem react?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_"Sir, your daughter has been kidnapped_."

Steve was able to mask his emotions in most occasions. This was not one of them. Most days he put on a cool disinterested mask, showing to the outside world that nothing fazed him. He had to. Steve was so far into the government's spy system that he didn't exist. Steve Johnson ceased to exist 15 years ago. He didn't even have a real name except for Black Eye – named as much for the patch on his eye as his fighting abilities.

The computer screen stared back at him with the foreign words, "Sir, your daughter has been kidnapped." How? Why? Steve had made a lot of enemies in his day. The worst thought he had was that one of his enemies had found out who he was and was going after his family to coax him out into the public.

The next line of the email confirmed his fears. _Your identity has been compromised._ Steve's breathing was sharp now. His heart beat a little faster. With his identity compromised, he could no longer do his job. One enemy had found his weakness, more enemies would follow. Steve no longer existed, and soon, neither would Black Eye.

He knew other none existent agents would be at his hotel room to debrief him on his job as a secret agent. They would allow him one more mission of finding his daughter, then he would be on his own.

Thinking about what the future held for him, was not in his thought process. Right now he was more concerned with finding his daughter. The fact that he was about to drop into his old life that no longer existed and reveal himself to people who thought he was dead didn't matter. Stephanie had to be found safe, alive, and soon. Steve knew what kind of damage his enemies could do to her, and he wanted to spare her that pain if possible.

If he wasn't already too late.

Stephanie struggled against the ropes around her wrists. She was groggy from the drugs that someone had given her earlier to make her calm down and sleep. The men in the front of the car whispered nonsensical words back and forth with each other. As long as they kept doing that and didn't pay attention to her, she could keep trying to get herself free.

She didn't know who these people were, why they wanted her, or what they were going to do to her. They knew her name because they called her Stephanie. She had been with her mother at the Brady Pub as they were visiting her grandparents, Caroline and Shawn Brady, for the summer. Stephanie had gone out for a breath of air and that's when they grabbed her. She struggled at first, but the two men had drugged her with something and the next thing she knew, she was tied up in the backseat of this car.

"The girl's awake." One of the men said and her eyes met his in the rearview mirror.

The other man turned around and looked at her. "Good morning Stephanie. How are you today?"

Stephanie tried to answer some smart reply, but found that her mouth was taped shut. They just laughed at her. "As long as you stay quiet and stay still, you'll be fine."

The man driving said, "Once we get who we want, we'll let you go." The men laughed again.

Stephanie has a feeling that they didn't have any plans to let her go. She tried screaming, but it didn't do any good. One of the men slapped her across the face and told her to shut up.

"All we want is Black Eye." The man not driving said. "You only have to worry if he doesn't come to rescue you."

Black Eye? Stephanie's mind was racing. Who the hell was Black Eye? There were cops in her family. Uncle Roman and Uncle Bo would be looking for her by now. She hoped that they would be able to find her soon and find out how this Black Eye was.

Stephanie closed her eyes and silently prayed. Please help me. Someone. Anyone.

Chapter 2

"Kayla, come on, wake up." Kayla stirred a little and realized she was in a chair. Why had she fallen asleep in a chair? It had something to do with…

Stephanie!

Her daughter was missing and Kayla wouldn't leave the police station. Kayla woke up to find Hope staring at her. "Stephanie?" Kayla asked, hopeful.

Hope shook her head. "No. Nothing yet." Hope took Kayla's hand in her own. "Why don't we go home. Get some rest. Bo and Roman will call us the minute they find out anything."

Kayla shook her head. "No. I'm not leaving until we find out about Stephanie."

"Hon, we don't even know for sure that she's missing," Hope tried to reassure her. "She's only been gone for a few hours. Maybe she just wandered off somewhere."

"Where would she go? She doesn't know Salem. She wouldn't go anywhere without telling me first. And she doesn't go anywhere without her cell phone." Stephanie's cell phone had been found on the ground outside of the Brady Pub. Stephanie was nowhere to be found.

Bo came up to them then and Kayla stood up to face him. The look on his face was grim. Kayla didn't like that look when she knew it pertained to Stephanie. "How're you holding up, Kay?"

"Where's Stephanie?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"We don't know. We've called on the relatives in Salem and no one has seen her. If we had her cell phone we could track her through the GPS."

"But she doesn't have her cell phone." Kayla said.

"No, she doesn't." Bo said. "And we've traced her calls on the cell. The name that comes up the most often is Derek. She received a call from around the time you said she walked out of the pub to get some air."

"Derek's her boyfriend," Kayla said. "They're on the phone together a lot, which is why she wouldn't have left her cell phone behind. She wouldn't want to miss a call from him."

"There hasn't been a call from him since Stephanie disappeared." Bo said. "Does he know that Stephanie's missing?"

Kayla nodded. "I called awhile ago to see if he knew anything. He didn't. He said that Stephanie had said she was going back into the pub when he hung up the phone with her."

"Okay." Bo said, making notes. "We'll get someone to interview him. See if he knows more than he's letting on. Do you trust this kid?"

"He's a good kid. He wouldn't hurt Stephanie." Kayla said and then wondered if maybe she had misjudged the kid. But then Derek was such a sweetheart and he was in L.A. There was no way he would hurt Stephanie in anyway. Kayla banished any thoughts she had of Derek hurting Stephanie far from her mind.

Bo was still taking notes on things he had to do and investigate. "We'll find her Kay. Don't worry. We'll find her."

Kayla watched as Bo walked away as he was summoned by Roman. Her big brothers were going to find Stephanie. She had to believe that. If only she had some information, any information, she could find her daughter herself. But she had nothing to go on.

"Kayla, let's go home for awhile," Hope said. "Get some rest. You'll be of no use to Stephanie if you don't get any rest."

"Hope, thank you, but I'm staying here." Kayla said. "If Shawn was the one missing, would you be at home? No you'd be here working the case."

"Yes, I would be, but I'm a cop."

"No. You're a mother. And so am I."

So Kayla waited. And listened. For any kind of clue.

It was nighttime in Salem when Steve arrived. He had flown into the old airstrip at the edge of town so he could avoid the people of Salem as much as he could. While he wanted to work on the case as soon as possible and get his daughter back home safe and sound he wasn't sure how to approach the residents of Salem as he was supposed to be dead.

He wasn't sure he could face Kayla. Her daughter was missing because of him. Because of things he had done in the past. His past wasn't supposed to intersect with his family's life. He'd been promised that the danger would never harm their lives. Steve had been promised, but he knew that there was never a guarantee. The danger could be unleashed with information in the wrong hands.

Steve wanted to strangle whoever had kidnapped Stephanie, and he probably would. But he had to find her first.

He'd been briefed shortly before he arrived in Salem. Stephanie had been outside the Brady Pub on her cell phone. When she finished her call, she was about to go back outside when she had been grabbed by men in black. The ISA had received a message that the men wanted Black Eye or his daughter would be dead in two days.

As he drove into town, he pulled out his secure phone and let the ISA know he had arrived in Salem. Soon, the local police department would be overrun with ISA. He could care less whether Roman and Bo Brady had any problems with the ISA butting into their business, he wanted to find his daughter with whatever means possible.

"Daddy's coming." Steve said as he passed the Welcome to Salem Sign.

Captain Roman Brady cursed at the fax that he had just received. All investigation into his niece, Stephanie Johnson's, case was to cease because the ISA was taking over. On one level, he knew this was not a good sign since Stephanie had been missing for less than 24 hours and wasn't technically "missing" yet. But if the ISA was involved, whatever happened to Stephanie was serious. The ISA had more resources than he did, but Roman wanted to be able to find his niece himself. He didn't know how he was going to be able to tell his sister that Stephanie's disappearance was more serious than any one of them thought.

Why would the ISA be involved in a missing person's case less than 24 hours after it happened? He was going to have to call John Black and get some more information about the ISA involvement.

Then Roman read the note further. A carrier would be delivering a package straight to him with the name of a high-powered ISA Agent whom would be taking over the lead of the case. Roman was already afraid for Stephanie, but to have such a protocol to protect the name of an agent, Roman was extremely afraid. It was very likely that this agent was one of the nameless men that were rumored to carry out the most dangerous missions. So dangerous, that if caught, the government wouldn't claim them as their own because these men didn't exist.

How the hell did one of those nonexistent agents get involved with Stephanie? She couldn't know anyone in the ISA.

The carrier arrived then with a confidential package. Inside the package was the information he was looking for. The agent went by the name Black Eye. Roman would be able to identify the agent because he wore a patch on his left eye.

_Black Eye_. Roman had heard whispers of him through the ISA grapevine. The man was dangerous. Probably the most dangerous agent the ISA had.

This was really serious if the man they called Black Eye was involved.

Roman watched Kayla and Hope out in the police station. Kayla was hoping for any kind of news. How the hell was going to tell her about the ISA and this man called Black Eye being involved?

And Stephanie. What kind of danger was she in? They had to find her fast. As he watched Kayla, he didn't know how his sister was going to make it if they didn't find Stephanie safe, alive, and fast. After Steve died, Stephanie was all that Kayla was able to hang onto to live.

Wait a minute. Roman took another look at the confidential report in front of him. Black Eye. Characterized by a patch on his eye. Patch. Steve.

What if Black Eye was Steve? Roman tried to shake the thought from his mind. But he couldn't. Black Eye was dangerous. Steve could be dangerous. Black Eye was being called in to find Stephanie. Steve was Stephanie's father. There were too many coincidences.

Except Steve wouldn't do that to his family. He wouldn't let them think he was dead for all these years, would he?

No. Steve wouldn't do that to his family. Roman settled for that thought and pushed the rest of it all to the back of his mind. He would tell Bo about the ISA, but Black Eye and his suspicions about Steve that wouldn't leave his mind he would keep to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Steve shuffled into the Salem Police Station dressed as a homeless man. He had a hat on that shadowed his face. He had learned over time that this was a disguise in which most people ignored him. Steve wanted to find Roman Brady first before he revealed himself to anyone in Salem. Finding Stephanie was going to be first.

Steve was several feet from Roman's office when he saw her. Kayla. She was by Bo's desk probably trying to help or get information from him. He had to physically stop himself from approaching her, taking her in his arms, and telling her that everything was going to be all right. He couldn't even promise her that everything would be all right. He'd seen too much to know that evil usually prevailed. Even if Stephanie was found alive, who knew what condition she would be in, or what the bastards who took her would do to her.

Steve didn't want to think about the atrocities that could be happening to his daughter. In his mind, she was still a sweet little baby. No one could hurt a sweet little thing like his Stephanie. But they could and they would. He knew that.

Kayla's back was to him when he passed her. He gently reached out and grazed the back of his hand across her back. The touch was barely noticeable, but he knew she felt it. She stiffened at his touch, and turned to look his way, but he'd already walked past her.

Roman's door was open, so Steve walked in and locked the door.

"Excuse me?" Roman asked. "What are you doing?"

Steve threw his ISA badge on Roman's desk. Roman picked up the badge and examined it while Steve closed the blinds in the office.

"So you're the man they call Black Eye." Roman said and sat back down at his desk. Steve sat across from him.

"Yes. I am." Steve said and removed his hat and Roman's eyes connected with his.

"Steve?" Roman asked. "My god, where have you been? Kayla's right outside. Stephanie's missing. You're the reason Stephanie's missing. What the hell have you done to put her in danger?"

"My job." Steve answered. "And right now it's my job to find Stephanie."

"You're supposed to be dead." Roman muttered.

"Obviously, I'm not."

"I suspected, but I didn't think it was true. How could you do this to them? To your family? Steve, Kayla never got over losing you. And Stephanie needed her father while she was growing up."

"Roman, there are things that have happened that you don't understand, and I don't have time to explain. Just know that if I could have been here, I would have. That's all you need to know right now."

"That's all the explanation I'm going to get?"

Steve didn't answer.

"You're going to be taking over my office? More agents will be filing in here shortly, right?"

Steve nodded in reply.

"And I'm just supposed to let this happen? I don't think so." Roman said. "It's my niece that is missing. I know her better than you do. That's my sister out there worried out of her mind. I'm not letting this case go."

"You do what you have to Roman. I don't care. But just know, within moments, the ISA will be here and they'll be answering to me, and only me. Stephanie may be your niece, but she's my daughter and I'm going to be the one who finds her."

Roman glared at Steve. "Stephanie's not your daughter. Kayla's not your wife. You lost that privilege the day you walked out on them and let them think that you were dead."

Steve let out a sigh. He knew that Roman was right. "You can stay in your office but do not act on any information that may come through here without my consent." Steve warned. "You're not equipped to deal with my enemies the way that I am."

"Fine." Roman answered, begrudgingly.

"Roman. Why is the ISA here?" Bo asked from outside the office.

"Damn," Roman muttered. "I forgot to tell Bo the ISA was taking over Stephanie's case. He's not going to let go either. And he'll probably knock you into tomorrow."

Steve smirked. "I wouldn't expect any less of him."

"Bo, come in." Roman called.

Bo walked into the office. "There're men out there from the ISA. They say they're taking over Stephanie's case. What's going on? She's a part of our family. I'm not letting anyone tell me I can't help find my niece. She's…"

Roman motioned to Steve. "Talk to him. He's the man in charge now."

Bo's eyes connected with Steve's and when recognition hit, Steve could see the anger in his eyes. "Steve."

Bo lunged for Steve, but Roman caught him. "If you brought this on Stephanie and Kayla then you should have stayed dead."

"I would have if trouble would have stayed in the past." Steve said while Bo still struggled against Roman. "You're still a hothead, I see."

"And you're still a smart ass. I'm not taking orders from you."

"You will take orders from me." Roman said. "And I order you to do as he says."

"But…" Bo started.

"Don't." Roman warned. "The only thing that matters right now is Stephanie. We all want her found safe, right?"

"Yes." Bo said.

"Then we're listening to Steve because he knows a heck of a lot more about his enemies than we do."

Bo straightened himself up and regained his composure. "Fine. For Stephanie." Bo turned to Steve. "You better find her, or you'll wish you stayed dead."

"I know." Steve said.

"What are we going to tell Kayla?" Bo asked. "She knows something's up."

Bo and Roman both looked at Steve. "Bring her in here. She needs to know the truth."

Stephanie was in a room. That she knew. She still felt groggy. But she wasn't tied up anymore. She opened her eyed to find that she was in a small windowless room. There was a bed, a chair, and a table. Bottles of water were on the table as were various boxes of crackers and chips. They were all unopened and sealed so she figured that they were probably okay.

She had to find a way out of here. First she tried the door, but obviously it was locked. She had nothing with her to pick a lock. Her mother didn't like the fact that she had learned how to pick a lock, but in this situation it would have been helpful. If she could do it. But nothing. She then checked the walls out to find some sort of weak spot, holes, anything that would help her get out of this place before the men came back. The wall were steady. She wouldn't be able to break them to get out.

The door opened them. Stephanie stood in the corner of the room farthest away from the door. "Steph?" Stephanie's heart soared. It was Derek. He'd help her out.

"Derek!" Steph called. "How did you find me?" Stephanie asked and threw her arms around Derek.

"I didn't have to." Derek said. There was a change in his voice that Stephanie didn't like.

"What do you mean, you didn't have to?"

"Are you really that naïve, Steph?" Derek laughed. Stephanie backed away from Derek. This was her boyfriend. The man she loved. What was wrong with him?

"I don't understand."

"You're only a means to an end. Black Eye killed my father. You will bring him to me."

Derek laughed as he shut the door on Stephanie. Stephanie banged on the door as she cried. "I don't understand. Please Derek, I can't help you. I don't know who Black Eye is. You've got the wrong girl."

Her cries fell on deaf ears. Derek was gone. Stephanie was trapped.

Chapter 4

Kayla could feel Steve near her. His presence was strong in the police station. She wanted to hold onto that presence and tell him to help her, help them find Stephanie. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if she lost Stephanie like she had lost Steve. She knew Steve knew that because his presence was all around her, comforting her.

She'd felt his presence the strongest when the homeless man had brushed up against her. So much so that Kayla had turned slightly to watch the man and fully expected him to be Steve. For a fleeting moment, she thought it was. But the man continued on as if nothing happened and Kayla thought that maybe she had imagined his touch against her back. He wasn't Steve. He couldn't be.

"Kayla?" Bo asked.

"Huh?" Kayla said as she focused on Bo in front of her.

"You should go home. Get some rest. Go with Hope."

Kayla shook her head. "As long as Stephanie is out there, I'm staying here."

"Then Kayla, you…"

"I know. Stay out of your way so you can do your work."

"I'm sorry Kay, but that's the way it has to be."

"I know…I just need to be near here so I know the minute she's found. She's going to be found soon? Right?"

Bo's face was grim. Kayla knew that he didn't want to give her any false hopes. But it was still less than 24 hours. Kayla reasoned that there was still a chance that Stephanie


End file.
